Mums left lonely on Mothering Sunday

Last updated at 14:41 01 March 2005

More than 1.5 million mums across the UK will not see their offspring on Mother's Day, according to research published today.

Over a quarter of Britons admitted they do not see their mums every year on Mothering Sunday, with one in six (17 per cent) rarely making the effort to see her at all, a survey by the Post Office found.

Changing demographics may be the reason why visits to mums on this special day are declining, with 40 per cent now living more than 10 miles away from their mum and 15 per cent living more than 100 miles away, the survey found.

Generous

However, Britons are generous when it comes to gifts for Mother's Day, spending an average £28 per gift, compared to just £15 set aside for a bouquet of flowers Valentine's Day.

Mother's Day, Valentine's Day and birthdays account for almost three quarters of all flowers sales in the UK.

One in five people spend more than £30 on a Mother's Day gift, while a further 6 per cent spend over £50.

Just 7 per cent of people don't plan to buy a gift for their mum next week (compared to 63 per cent who do not buy presents to mark February 14).

Those in Northern Ireland are the biggest spenders, forking out more than £35, while more than one in ten (11 per cent) in Yorkshire and Humberside plan to spend under £5 on a gift, making them the lowest spenders.

In the South East, 12 per cent do not intend to buy their mum anything, whilst 5 per cent in the South West claim to spend over £100.

Flowers preferred

Ornaments, kitchen utensils and costume jewellery are items to avoid when shopping next week - taking the top three places in the "worst gifts" list identified by mums.

Flowers remain the preferred gift to receive on Mother's Day for more than half (53 per cent), followed by a meal out (14 per cent) and pampering products (6 per cent).

Kevin McAdam, head of travel and leisure at the Post Office, said: "Our research shows that when it comes to choosing Mother's Day gifts, people are getting something which should be so simple disastrously wrong.

"Our advice would be stick to traditional gifts such as a bouquet of flowers, which our research shows is a foolproof way to make mums feel loved on their special day."